Why do we keep doing stupid things?

 Some say that the definition of being a fool is to ''keep doing

the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome''.

If this is true, then I guess most of us at some time or another

has probably behaved like a fool.

Why do we keep doing stupid things?

Short answer: Because we are creatures of habit.

Even if the outcome of a habit has negative consequences,

we often keep repeating the habit.

''Yuk, I feel awful, I'll never drink again'', we say.

''I shouldn't have eaten so much pizza, now I feel sick.''

''I shouldn't have said those things, now I feel bad''.

And so on.

''Habits work by generating an impulse to do a behaviour

with little or no conscious thought.'' (Benjamin Gardner)

So here's the thing; in order to truly change a behaviour/habit

we need to give it some ''conscious'' thought.

What am I doing? Why am I doing it? Does it benefit me

or not? What will happen if I stop doing it?

Why did I start doing it in the first place?

Unfortunately, only when a habit cause us more pain 

than benefit do we usually become sufficiently enough

 motivated to deal with our ''bad'' habits.

I have a bad habit of not keeping my back straight.

I slouch. I also have scoliosis (crooked spine) which

does not help. Straightening my back hurts and feels

very un-natural, but due to slouching for years, consequentially

  now I have a whole lot of other painful body issues 

to deal with.

Though I keep reminding myself to keep my back

straight, more often than not, I forget.

Then one day as luck would have it, I stumbled upon

a kind of harness made for the purpose of keeping

the back straight. I instantly bought it and now wear

it every second day. Does it work? Yes, it does.

Sometimes in order to change a bad habit we may

have to exchange that habit for a new one, one

with a better and more healthy outcome.

As long as we do not question why we keep

doing stupid things we will keep doing them.

If we want to change a behaviour pattern we

need to begin by understanding why we

created that pattern in the first place.

We may need to ask ourselves:

That stupid thing that we keep doing,

what triggered it the first time we did it?

Since then, do similar circumstances

always trigger the same behaviour/response?

Can that behaviour/response be substituted

for a ''better'' one?

Sometimes ''willpower'' may be enough to help

us change a behaviour pattern, other times we 

may need some assistance in the form of for

instance, a prompt.

Ex: When I am not using my harness I hang it 

somewhere where I can always see it.

Seeing it reminds(prompts) me to use it.

For a while it was popular to wear a rubber band

around one's wrist and then snap it to remind or to 

reinforce a particular mindset and or behaviour.

In my view, it definitely works.

Whatever may be going on in our head at the time,

a quick snap of the rubber band interrupts it and

gives us a chance to really think.

If we want to stop doing stupid things, in my view

we must begin with thinking before we act.

"Don't do something permanently stupid

because you are temporarily upset.''

(Minnie Nord)

''Everything you do in every moment matters.

A single thought can change the world.''

(Anthon St. Maarten)

about the image: ink on wood board

the spikes in his head represents how remembering

the stupid things we say and do sticks in our

minds like nails